This is one of two typical structures for a Lux Command Center but the general architecture is similar for either format. This approach is called Sanctum and operates as a series of smaller, interconnected command rooms. Each room has a specific function with one room being dedicated to the highest ranking officer and her handpicked command crew. This room serves as the hub which coordinates the actions of the other rooms. In it, we see the central platform from which the Commander issues her orders and keeps an eye on everything via a series of interactive holographic displays. The platform hovers several feet above the floor and is held in position with gravitic anchors. Surrounding the Commander’s Station is a grav-halo topped with a walkway and ringed with several Operation Stations manned by expert pilots chosen usually from the ranks of the Paladin Corps. These ops crew man the various stations lining the outer wall as well. A freemoving first officer helps to oversee ops within the room. Two guards are stationed at the rear of the command module on either side of the egress. The Commander herself is afforded an unobstructed view of the forward viewport, which typically overlooks the topdeck and bow of the vessel. Occasionally, an advisor will be present somewhere on the central command deck.

The Lux have several methods of communication available to them. The first is the normal technological variety, which is the most common method employed. Most routine comm traffic is handled this way as a means to conserve energy. The second is through the use of Spirits. Since Spirits have the ability to teleport, like Angels themselves, and are not affected by material issues, they can deliver messages near instantaneously, at long distances, and in dangerous situations. The third method is through short form telepathy. Only the Angels themselves are currently able to reliably use this method but there have been promising new studies in the field of psioniks which might unlock the potential ability in Paladins. Long contact between two Lux using this ability is mentally draining and the range at which it is usable isn’t terribly long but the benefits are extraordinary. It’s the fastest form of communication possible and it comes pre-loaded with context and understanding. In other words, miscommunication very rarely occurs and the information is able to be acted upon without hesitation or any need for clarification. This type of communication is typically employed during combat situations between Command Center leaders or in an all angelic fighter squadron.

Command Crewmember: “Commander, we’ve got reports coming in now.”

Commander Seraphina: “What have you got for me, Anath?”

Anath: “Scouts on the ground at Xue II indicate that the circus has made landfall and have engaged the research group there.”

Seraphina: “Excellent. How are they faring?”

Anath: “They say that it’s colder than the wind in the Devil’s Wings, ma’am, but there have been negligible casualties due to the freezing temperatures. It looks like the fighting has ramped up and everyone seems to be having a good time. The research team has even begun using their intimate knowledge of the terrain to make things more interesting and our agents haven’t had to step in yet…though Danihel admits to tossing around a few explosive snowballs for fun.”

The Lux have, since time immemorial, watched over the BrikVerse and its inhabitants. Their goals in all that time, whatever factionalized academic discussions may rage within their ranks, have never changed. They promote and protect the BrikVersian Ideals. To wit: Extreme Ossumness, Fierce Creativity, Glorious Battle, and Unmitigated Fun. These ideals sit at the heart of Minifig Morality and they stir the passion of the Lux every single day. But the Mission is more complicated than it seems and the Lux tread the line of hypocrisy all the time. They employ a number of unsavory methods to this end. Most Lux are uncomfortable with these methods but cannot argue with their undeniable effectiveness. They have kept the Lux capable and aware through many Rekonstruktions and the heavenly host has thus been able to help an innumerable amount of people and factions throughout time and space without going extinct itself. Often, individual Lux will have to forgo the sweet song of creative chaos, bountiful bloodshed, and delightful destruction in order to heed the calling of the Greater Good.

Seraphina: “…I understand. Round the count up and log it. Who were we posing as?”

Malachi: “Erm…the Phaleks, looks like.”

Seraphina: “Really, why?”

Malachi: “I’m not sure, Commander. I think Omega chose them for convenience. I seem to remember something about them making comments over building extraordinarily large bombs. It won’t stand up, of course. By the time anyone takes a look at it, IF anyone takes a look at it, we’ll be long gone and have the whole affair scrubbed clean. Forces in that area are tangled, as you know. The Phaleks might even claim credit just for the prestige…it was, sadly, just a planet full of pacifists. Come to think of it, word was that there was some kind of time traveling peacemaker at the location. I couldn’t say Who that was but Omega may have chosen the combination because of that Tek.”

Perhaps the most of those deeply unsavory methods employed by the Lux is that of Terminus ad Absurdum. Terminus is the utter destruction of a location and all of its inhabitants, the Lux designation for the ever-boring Nuklear Option. It goes beyond mere destruction, however. Lux agents return to “salt the earth” as it were, ensuring that nothing of the original offending culture returns or ever takes root there again. It’s extreme, and rarely done.

Lux also have the innate ability to don a Glamour. Their Glamours are unlike traditional illusions, as Angels and other Divine creatures have the ability to manipulate the very fabric of reality. So Glamours might be better described as a kind of combination shapeshifting and illusion. Only the pure of heart (the BrikVersian kind) can see through the Glamour to the Lux’s true self…and then, only with difficulty and usually only when they know or suspect what they might be looking for. This ability is primarily responsible for the Lux’s long survival and ability to perpetuate their goals. Most Lux find it extremely distasteful. In any case, the ability has often been used to pose as another faction when carrying out mission goals. Up until recent Rekons, this has worked perfectly. However, in the “modern” days, Factions have grown up into vast Star Empires and the Lux are finding it rather difficult to keep up. When such large entities have truly astonishing resources at their command, it becomes somewhat easier to see the unseen hand of Lux manipulations. In the face of this, Lux have had to learn to work even smarter and not harder. Knowledge of Lux existence has become unavoidable at this point (for the major empires, anyway), and so the Lux have begun cautiously contacting faction authorities to, ostensibly, discuss terms of alliance.

Uriel: “No, I do not. Needs must when the Devil drives. And your man is right…but we aren’t completely sure the time travel tek was destroyed. Our agents are looking for it but we have yet to lay hands on any instance of it.”

Seraphina: “Come, Uriel, you can’t believe it was the best solution. We could have placed deep covers, or sleepers at the very least. Done some instigating, made some long term plans for rehabilitation…anything is better than engaging in that monstrous practice.”

Uriel: “We’ve had this discussion, Sera. I don’t like it either but we don’t have the resources to waste on people that far gone. It has to be done, for the greater good, and you know it. Your way may be the better way but it’s one we can’t afford right now. Especially with…well.

Seraphina: “But do we have that right? To wipe out an entire people because we don’t like their way of life? And especially when they might eventually Produce?”

Uriel: “Yes. God-given. Besides, you know it’s more complicated than that. Manipulating or brow beating them into conversion isn’t much different.”

Seraphina: “Fine. I’ll leave it for now but we will revisit this later. So how’s that going anyway, the whole Noob War?”

Uriel: “Eh, I don’t really know. I stopped keeping track.”

Seraphina: “What? Goddammit, Uriel…”

Uriel: “Hey…”

Seraphina: “…It’s important. We could always use fresh violence.”

Uriel: “I know, I know. I’m just not assigned to it. I know we’ve got agents on both sides working to instigate things but not a great deal has come from it yet. I’m sure those guys will get to it on their own soon enough.”

For all their singularity of purpose, there are some deep divides among the ranks of the Lux. One of the major divides concerns just who, or what, is at the top of the pyramid. Some believe they’re serving a Human they call god. Some believe the Host serves all Humanity, collectively called god. Others believe they serve a power even greater than Humans and still others believe there is no higher power and Angels are merely one of the oldest races, adrift in space like everyone else. There’s even a very small faction who believe Brikthulu is in charge. But the differences don’t stop there. Individual Lux differ greatly in opinion on methodology. The primary schism seems to occur when discussing whether the proper way to deal with something is through stealth and diplomacy or forcefully, violently, and all over the place by way of the well positioned sword. It was this primary schism which initially led to the formation and acceptance of the Half-Fallen. They are the Lux who perform the aforementioned necessary evils. Diplomacy, abject manipulation, nuclear options, complex calculations and planning, and so on and so forth. They operate outside of the normal hierarchy in a very secretive, black operations division of their own. Mostly, the Half-Fallen do not have much of a command structure of their own and many of their agents work solo or in small teams. There are some exceptions, such as Omega Group.

The Lux are spread thin across the universe. Once, they were great in number but now their size barely compares to some of the smaller empires. This is thanks to a devastating phenomenon which has kept the Lux from “reproducing” with any frequency. Now, Lux don’t necessarily produce new generations in the usual way. Sure, virile and fertile individuals might bear divine fruit but genetics doesn’t necessarily make a Lux. Though when it does, these offspring are called Nephilim and are extraordinarily physically powerful. Unfortunately, not all of the Nephilim are as convinced of the Lux way of life as their parent or parents are and so many of them never join ranks. The “creation” of a Lux is actually far more spiritual. Minifigs that rise to truly believe in (and very possibly embody) the Ideals tends to experience an emotional transcendence all his or her own. They shine throughout space like great, blazing beacons in the darkness and the Lux soon after arrive to indoctrinate them into the fold. The receive training of both a military and a spiritual nature, learning to control the gifts of body, mind, and soul to a fantastic degree. Once training is complete, these reforged minifigs join the ranks of the Paladins. The Paladin Corps is the most militaristic arm of the Lux and they make up a significant portion of the faction’s total population. When a Paladin dies, she becomes a Divine Spirit. Unlike most other Spirits in the BrikVerse, Divine Spirits are benevolent toward the living. Spirits are pair-bonded with living, active Paladins. They can have no effect on the material world, but they serve as excellent guides, watchmen, and communicators. Spirits operate under a modified kind of permanent Glamour. They are always incorporeal but they can be seen and interacted with by the pure. As Spirits grow in power and experience, and as their partners move on to become spirits themselves, they tend to choose one of two distinct paths. In the first, they manifest all of their power in a specialized ritual that allows them to forge a new body, thus becoming new Angels. In the second, they remain spirits but that energy is never so tightly focused. These spirits grow vast in size and formless. Primarily, you’ll find them adopting a specific role and utilizing their great power to best effect. The WarSpirit is the most basic example of this, a great, old spirit that powers Starships. The older and more powerful the WarSpirit, the bigger and more advanced the ship it can power. Angels can conceive as well, of course, but such an occurrence is exceedingly rare thanks to some quirk of angelic physiology. There are very, very few pure bred Angels running around (and strangely, there doesn’t appear to be any difference anyway). And Angels aren’t immortal…they can be killed. But when a creature of heaven is killed, where does he go? Detroit? Well, no, he returns to BrikHeaven but must spend a great deal of time there recuperating. If he comes back out, he won’t remember it because there appears to be some sort of mental barrier between that realm and this. Some Angels even wonder if they themselves aren’t reincarnations of legendary Angels who have died in service. There is, unfortunately, just no way to know. Only a god could traverse that boundary with everything intact. As we can see, then, angelic “reproduction” is heavily reliant on conversion. And this is happening less and less across the universe in modern Rekons as the Star Empires grow significantly in size. Many citizens and soldiers of the various empires grow ever more loyal and indoctrinated into their own cultures, especially over successive generations. That free spirited spark doesn’t shine as often in the dark of space anymore as a direct result. Some Lux even believe that the beacon was two-way and that the Lux don’t shine as brightly anymore either…especially with the natural conformity of its own ranks.

Lux are simply divided into large battle companies. These companies are headed by a Commander (sometimes they are given grander titles) who works in tandem with other Commanders on behalf of the Lux as a whole. Each company maintains a sizable Paladin group and several Angelic squads. The division is mostly for ease of strategic planning, given that Pallys and Angels tend to display different abilities. However, some Commanders prefer to maintain mixed squads, believing in the strength of diversity. This concept is fundamental to most companies and it is generally required, at least, that Angels are led by Paladins and Paladins by Angels. It is interesting to note that humility among the ranks and respect among its members is intensely common. While Angels tend to wield significantly more power than their minifig counterparts, most of them were once Paladins themselves. What’s more, Paladins often earn their respect out of sheer adaptability and badassery. Precisely because Paladins are more limited, they are often far more creative in the use of their abilities. Each company is assigned a large region of space to patrol and look after. Seraphina’s company, for example, is assigned to the prestigious position of watching over the Nehellenium Galaxy.

Seraphina: “Okay. And the Bavarian Situation?”

Uriel: “Well, that’s complicated. I know we have projects in the works but, to be frank, I think that whole thing is going to be a lot more surprising than the initial reports suggested. I’ve been keeping an eye on it on my rounds. There’s more to it than there seems.”

Seraphina: “Good, let’s just hope that none of the heavy hitters decides to go all of the way. Some of their Epitek puts our Terminus Engines to shame. I’d hate to see something so completely lame happen. I doubt it will, though. Some of those factions have been the most promising so far.”

Uriel: “You speak highly of them.”

Seraphina: “I respect them, Uriel, and so should you. They’ve already done much good for the universe and they have the potential to do a great deal more. I know how you feel but, consider, if we ever become obsolete, then we have truly achieved our goal. Our time will be at an end, and rightfully so.”

Uriel: “Maybe…”

Seraphina: “What about the Scythian? Last I knew, your ship was combing the area. Anything on that?”

Uriel: “It’s not my ship anymore. I gave that up when I joined the special ops division. But yes, I’ve heard from Ezekiel. He tells me the beacon is the strongest he’s seen in many years. In fact, the way he talks about it strongly implies it’s the strongest he’s ever seen. But then, Ezekiel is prone to exaggeration. We’ll see once we can get closer. Last I heard, my replacement is devoting at least twelve different Operations to the man. Seems excessive…we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Seraphina: “We can deal with that when the time comes. For now, let’s focus on the business at hand. Archelaus, what’s the status with the Gate? Is it really one of ours?”

Lieutenant Commander Archelaus: “Intel is sketchy, Commander. Our Gates aren’t known for being stable. What’s more, most of them tend to pop up in the Astral. We have ships in the area but long range scans show only a low level Astral resonance. This thing is almost completely within realspace, ma’am. Where, I might add, things are rapidly going to hell.”

Seraphina: “Hm, very well, so if it is one of ours, someone or something very powerful has forced it into the view of the natives. I wonder why. Get me more intel on that thing. Will our vessel be able to reach the field in time?”

Archelaus: “Yes, ma’am, we’re working on it now. Yes, ma’am, I believe so. I’ve got some of the boys and girls working a new Astral program. It’s experimental but it should make the Associative Cognition processes fire off a little quicker. It’s not quite Stream of Consciousness but…”

Seraphina: “Do it. If we can manage to arrive before this whole thing started, that’d be great. We’ll take up position in the Astral Space there and see what happens.”

Though Lux have conventional sublight travel technology, their primary mode of space travel isn’t through space at all. Instead, thanks to their Divine natures, they have the ability to breach the barrier between the RealVerse and the Astral Plate alternate dimension. Travel is usually difficult in the Astral, by virtue of it’s being abstract, but Angels are at home there and can maneuver with extreme ease. Time flows differently in the Astral and so Lux ships traveling in this manner can actually move through time as well as space, often arriving before they left. This supreme method of travel is the Lux’s greatest advantage. Not only does it afford them often (but not always) instantaneous travel but it also eliminates the need for a stealth system of any kind. Being in an alternate dimension removes them utterly from danger or detection and is another of the primary reasons that the Lux have stayed hidden for so long.

BrikWiki on the Astral Plate wrote: While it is true that Astral space is a metaphor and an abstract idea, it is also a physical place because physical places, like things and ideas, also come from somewhere. It is possible, under the right circumstances, to travel to the Astral Plate. The journey will undoubtedly be bewildering, spiritually and mentally trying, and may bring the traveler to great danger but it is considered, by many multiversal scholars, to be well worth the risks.Astral Space displays a peculiarity, which may have more to do with any given sentient's limited perception than with any feature of the plane itself. Because the experience in travelling there is almost dreamlike in its abstractness and therefore highly personalized, scholars are sketchy on just how to describe the peculiarity. Most agree, however, that Astral Space is essentially localized. That is, while entering from the same place under the same circumstances a traveler may have a wildly different experience but the physical sensation of location is unchanged. This makes it possible to navigate the Astral and, if one has the capability, enter and exit at very specific points in a given real universe. Navigating is not easy, however, and it is extraordinarily easy to become very, very lost. Furthermore, the distances even between universes in the same multiversal cluster are vast so, barring some deific means of travel, travelers are typically limited to their own universes.

The Lux share a similar mission to what I always intended the Order of the Holy Dragon to work towards. The main difference seems to be that the Lux do it for the greater good while the Order does it because the Holy Dragon says to do it, mostly because he doesn't want to die if the Brikverse dies. I could see the two teaming up and/or butting heads on a regular basis.

The Lux Araphelinus Dreadnaught is among the oldest of Lux starship designs. Throughout the eons, the design has changed only somewhat: a multipurpose and extremely large vessel comprised of a solid mixture of soft and hard style architectural aesthetics. Shown here is a more classical style Araphelinus. Its colossal cathedral like main body typically houses a major Lux city. The Lux do not have a homeworld of their own as they are extraplanar in origin, hailing from the divine realm of BrikHeaven. It is unknown, thanks to the mental memory erasing barrier that exists between that plane of existence and this one, whether they have established geographical and political communities there. It’s probably safe to assume that they do. The main body is attached to a Gun Bridge, laden with weaponry. This, in turn, is attached to twin prongs that bow outward near their center length to form a center ring which cocoons a massive gyrostabilizer device. This device seats a WarSpirit of some description, who powers the entire vessel and its subsystems, whether propulsion and navigation, sensors and communication, or weaponry and animation nodes. The Araphelinus embodies a chariot like design, with the WarSpirit almost pulling the rest of the vessel along, though it does utilize the virtually redundant engine array at the rear of the ship to assist in this endeavor.

Prong Couplings, Port Prong, and Starboard Prong

The twin prongs are detachable in case of WarSpirit destruction. The prongs themselves are rather solidly connected and, despite appearances, the separation mechanics are completely internalized. The gun bridge does have massive multideck airlocks located at either of its ends and many a rare enemy that have seen this vessel type’s true form have fallen prey to the mistake of firing on the heavily armored airlock or the adjacent connection points.

Both the port and starboard prongs have similar features, aside from the long viewport on the starboard side. Both maintain a redundant long range communications array. There are more redundancies within the Lux City, Gun Bridge, and Central Command. All of which are keyed to the WarSpirit but can also operate independently should the need arise. Both prongs also maintain one half of an energy capture and hyper focusing device called a Consecration Cannon. One might think of this deadly device as the ship’s main gun. Simply, the WarSpirit sends a massive burst of energy toward the front of the ship, the CC harnesses the energy, focuses and refines it, then fires it off in an absolutely devastating blast of holy fire called Purefire. The CC can also collect background radiation and other types of energy for conversion into usable Purefire. This makes a forward assault on the Araphelinus nothing short of foolhardy, as the CC device is more than capable of capturing almost any weapons fire, converting it to Purefire, and returning the attack with perhaps more force than that with which it was made.

Internal Power Flows and External Gunnery Stations

The inside wall of the prongs shows the outermost layer of redundant power flow systems. These flows carry the WarSpirit’s energy, or stored Purefire or conventional energies in the absence of a spirit, throughout the ship. As we can see here, everywhere on the ship that is lit up with blue transparent denotes either a power flow or its terminus.

The outside wall is more heavily armored and, dotted along its length, are multiple gunnery stations. These stations are each typically manned by a large team of gunners to reduce strain on the WarSpirit or central computer systems. They have a limited arc of fire and consist of three linked long cannons. These cannons are equipped to process and fire Purefire if need be but aren’t designed to handle energy of that magnitude for very long. They will burn out after a handful of volleys and will need to be replaced completely. Most station leaders will only use this tactic in a desperate situation. In the meantime, the guns are perfectly capable of firing high intensity, medium range laser beams all day long.

WarSpirit with GyroStabilizers

As WarSpirits age and grow in power, they gain a greater and greater fundamental understanding of the underpinnings of the universe. They “see” omnidirectionally, the very fabric of reality revealing itself to them and forming a mental landscape of everything within a truly vast distance. The distance and scope of this ability is phenomenal even for relatively young spirits. All but the most clever stealth systems are useless against them and their communication range is astronomical. They learn to calculate with increasing precision and to truly multitask. As they develop this hyper intellect, and physically grow and change in form, however, they become decidedly more and more alien. It becomes more and more difficult for Lux officers to understand them. Thus, all Lux vessels are equipped with special Magitek computer systems operated by highly trained Prophet officers. These crewmembers are able to accurately relay communications, targeting, surveillance, and all other manner of relevant data collected by the hyperaware WarSpirit to their commanding officers who, in turn, can act on it as normal. In truth, this whole process takes no longer than any ordinary computer system but it does require specialized crew to take full advantage of superior data.

The GyroStabilizers are a common enough Lux technology and are seen on many scales throughout their architecture. In this case, these enormous rings link the WarSpirit to the ship, allowing it to control systems and power flow. They’re basically a pilot’s seat for the spirit.

Note: Here’s a little LDD trick I picked up whilst building this. These rings can each spin independently. Now, originally, they couldn’t. LDD doesn’t like when you have a thing that spins like this linked to two places, even if your measurements are exact. It’ll try to turn on both axis but will only succeed in pulling minor increments. To help ensure the smooth spin, build only the illusion of two connecting points. Make sure the structure you want to rotate is connected in only one place and turn on that particular axis instead.

Gun Bridge, Quarter Top

The Gun Bridge is an independent module positively brimming with large scale weaponry. The bridge can blow either side of its connection to the forward prongs or the main ship. It has no means of propulsion on its own, however, and can then serve only as a heavily armed and armored space station. It is equipped with all the essentials required to support a skeleton crew. The top of the Gun Bridge is forward guarded by twin Spirit Form Gargoyles, what would appear to be mere statuary to the untrained eye, each locked into place atop an Animation Node. A smaller ship runway runs along its length down its center and this is flanked by sixty-nine total Purefire Batteries, three to a side. These twin linked artillery pieces each have an almost hemispherical field of fire and can maintain a high rate of fire, albeit at the cost of less focused energy.

Gun Bridge, Side

The typical Araphelinus Gun Bridge is equipped with twelve sets of PulseBeam Broadsides. That’s twenty four cannon to a side for a total of forty eight broadsides. Each set can be configured to fire either a pulse blast of high yield plasma or a high intensity laser beam.

Gun Bridge, Quarter Bottom

The bottom of the Gun Bridge contains magnetic slide lines along which run two Purefire Lancers. Lancers are built to withstand incredible amounts of Purefire energy constantly pouring through them. They can be configured to fire bursts of energy instead but are far less effective when used in this manner. Typically, they open up with unerringly accurate beams of holy fire. Lancers thus mounted often suffer a lesser vertical firing arc thanks to their heavier bulk. The central runway on this face of the bridge is for repair drones and as a backup gravitic anchor for the Lancers themselves.

Fighter Runway

The Araphelinus was built to be a multipurpose vessel and it shows partially thanks to the fighter runway located topside of the Gun Bridge. An energy barrier keyed to Lux signatures covers the bay door and gravitic enhancers run the length of the runway to help provide launch and guide landing.

Topdeck

The Topdeck is where most of the busy happens on this ship type. The vast three towered Cathedral houses a Lux City (which very often extends many, many decks below) and is attached to two side wings whose roofs house emplacements for the very deadly Lux Apocalypse Cannons. Two more guard the forward deck, along with two Angelic Form Gargoyles and an Apocalyptic Form Gargoyle. Each outward facing structure, along with the deck itself, are all heavily armored and usually further protected by energy shielding. Thanks to its inherently destructive nature, Purefire shielding is notoriously difficult to pierce.

Purefire Apocalypse Cannon

Purefire isn’t merely angelic energy. It is the very essence of divine destruction. There are words and ideas that shape the fundament of reality. Any reality. Some vast Imagination evolves new words and ideas and they, in turn, become Real. At the beginning of all things, when Creation was thus created, so too was its opposite, Destruction. Purefire doesn’t merely damage or destabilize, it erodes the very essence of a thing on every level imaginable. It is a terrifying energy to behold. An Apocalypse Cannon, with its massive focusing chamber and titanic twin barrels, is far from the biggest Purefire weapon in the divine arsenal but it’s the biggest one in common use among the various Lux Fleets. Lux often “consecrate” battlefields before and/or after fights where Purefire weapons will be or were in use. They tend to destabilize reality along their firing trajectories. In reality, this consecration fortifies against and heals the wounds in the universe the weapons cause.

Angelic Form Gargoyles, Apocalyptic Form Gargoyle, and Animation Nodes

Gargoyles are any form of inanimate matter animated by divine energies. They’re also called Constructs or Golems. Unlike traditional animation magiks, divine animation instills a limited form of intelligence. Where a mortal spell might mimic intelligence slightly above that of an animal, divine animation creates actual sentience with, depending upon the skill of the caster, an average I.Q. Once animated, a Gargoyle remains alive so long as it receives regular infusions of divine energy. On average, this is no different than eating is for any given mortal. Gargoyles are rarely spontaneously employed and doing so is extremely dangerous. While the animation process imbues them with awareness and intelligence, it does not necessarily imbue them with loyalty. As with any thinking creature, loyalty is earned and so Gargoyles must typically go through similar training to their Lux counterparts. Once trained, they are typically employed in guard positions. Larger, more powerful Gargoyles guard the hulls of ships. Boarding a Lux vessel is not an action an enemy takes lightly. The Forms Gargoyles take (or, rather, are fashioned in) serve as their bodies and can thus limit their abilities. Unlike other Lux, the divine spark in Gargoyles merely animates them (makes the material they are made of “living” and allows for movement, imbues them with sentience, and so on)…it does not grant them powers like telepathy or Glamour. They are what they appear to be unless disguised by a Lux with the power to do so.

Usually, Gargoyles on a vessel are plugged into Animation Nodes, which are merely power conduits that keep them recharged and ready if they are already animated or which serve as a direct line to a would be animator who wants to wake one up.

Central Stained Glass Window

Stained Glass Windows (albeit plasteel like in composition) are common aboard Lux vessels. Sometimes they depict past scenes of valor and glory but most commonly, they serve as identifiers. The window shown here depicts a stylized Enochian character, which can roughly translate as “One.” Araphel is the name given to the First Layer of BrikHeaven. Araphelinus, then, is the diminutive form of that name and thus the ship type, first of its kind, is named after the First Layer. Some insist that it has dual meaning, however, in that Araphelinus Types spend a great deal of their time in Realspace, a place that has been likened to the First Layer of BrikHeaven. The forward window spans several decks over three major sectors.

Lux Araphelinus Type City Multiview

Lux Cities are common only aboard Araphelinus Type Dreadnaughts. Other Dreadnaught types usually have other functions. Lux tend to conform to the ideals one might expect from any minifig city. There are large towers for training centers such as war colleges or magikal universities, for hospitals, for vast meditation chambers, for Obs decks, for reseach centers, and so on and so forth. There are several buildings dedicated to spacious residences (Lux personnel rarely have to bunk with one another on large vessels like this one), trading posts, and entertainment centers. There are two large central parks on either side of the city, enclosed in massive Energy Domes. There are communications arrays and statuary all about the town. Perhaps most noticeable of all are the Purefire Storage Tanks which dominate great swaths of the city, standing several stories tall, they’re bigger than many buildings unto themselves. There are a couple major differences, however. Lux don’t have financial institutions or stores, as such. Their society, as a whole, is small enough that all their needs are taken care of, often in spades. They do, however, maintain truly gigantic vaults where they store valuable goods and monies of other cultures, for dealings or infiltrations. Also, there are few civilians aboard. Most civvies are children. Lux make no distinction between men, women, or anyone else and there are no cultural biases toward any gender when it comes to serving. Finally, with that military bent, punctuated by the three massive command towers that rise above the city, any Lux City is bound to have a different feel about it. Structured, efficient, and often busy.

The city that is shown here is Vilona City, aboard the vessel called “The Thirteenth Hour.” The Thirteenth Hour is the only surviving ship among the first run of its line. It is also home to one of the foremost of Lux divisions, which is assigned to the Nehellenium Galaxy. Its city is so named because “Vilona” is another name for “Araphel.”

Bottomdeck

The Bottomdeck is much simpler than the Topdeck. Several Purefire Storage Tanks service no less than five Apocalypse Cannons, one of which is raised above a three hundred and sixty degree Obs Deck. Like the rest of the hull, the Bottomdeck is heavily armored.

Repair Bay and Bottomdeck Viewport

The Repair Bay is akin to the fighter bay in that it, too, is guarded by an energy field. Here, though, repair drones and teams are launched to fix busted components all over the ship. The Obs deck is actually several interconnected rooms, though there are large open viewports at each cardinal direction. There are several tactical planning centers down here. It’s also a popular place to install quiet bars and lounges on many Araphelinus ships.

Rear Stained Glass Window

Made of the same materials as the forward window, these windows are often much shorter, spanning several decks still but only over two sectors. The ones shown here also bear the Enochian One designation but could, on other ships, display any number of images and scenes. One notable ship even uses its rear windows to immortalize kills in tally marks. It isn’t pretty, but it’s impressive.

Engine Array, Closeup on Port Wing Array, and Engine Internals

The Engine Array is dual functioning. It can operate directly on a WarSpirit’s channeled power and on such stored Purefire energy or it can use conventional methods to achieve thrust. The Lux are fond of a great many cultures and have incorporated a mishmash of tek into their own designs. Perhaps most prevalent in their engine design is M-Thronian like magtek, though that certainly doesn’t comprise the breadth of the tek seen here. When in combat situations, the general procedure is to burn stored Purefire first and then follow that up with conventional movement boosted by the occasional, calculated burst of supplemental energy from the Spirit. Anything that can be done to lessen the strain on the WarSpirit is looked on with favor and the Lux are always tinkering with their designs to increase the technological/spiritual symbiosis.

Last edited by Quantumsurfer on Sun Jun 15, 2014 6:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.